009 (Hoshino)
Joe Shimamura, aka''' 009''', is the protagonist of the Cyborg 009 one-shot and remake, as written and drawn by Yasushi Hoshino. Appearance Joe is a young man in his late teens, with a slender but athletic physique. His notable feature is his neck-length chestnut brown hair, the color being an indicator to his mixed heritage. Unlike his other incarnations, this Joe's fringe is much shorter and does not obscure either of his eyes. After being converted into 009, he wears a deep burgundy military jumpsuit with a double-breasted panel on its chest, four gold buttons, armored padding built into the top and pants, white-and-black armored gloves with studded knuckles, and black leather boots and a belt. The 00 cyborg uniform as seen in this one-shot would entirely lack the classic yellow scarf, in favor of a more modernized approach. Personality Having been imprisoned in a Kurihama reformatory for an unknown incident, Joe is shown to have a rebellious streak and be willing to block a guard's punch when he sees that they've attempted to hit his friend Muramatsu. As he has no one to return home to, he accepts Muramatsu's offer for them to go traveling to Tokyo together, and is shown silently panicking and terrified when they're split apart by the mysterious men in black. Like previous incarnations, he is the confused newcomer to the team but is outraged to learn that he's been remodeled into a weapon and that Black Ghost plans to create war. His outrage is enough for him to jump up at the scientists and shatter the glass of their observation window. He is willing to "keep company" with the other cyborgs, and leads the charge into battle. Abilities With his remodeling, Joe's strength and agility have been increased enough for him to be barely scathed by an explosion, and for him to punch through 8cm thick glass. He is also bulletproof and can jump up on walls. It can be assumed he has his Accelerator, though it is not demonstrated. History Joe's history before Kurihama and his abduction remains unknown, other than that he was abandoned as a baby on the steps of a church, and had always grown up in some sort of facility. After having been imprisoned at the reformatory for two years, his cellmate Muramatsu had grown desperate to leave, not being able to put up with the guards' abuse any longer. After Joe punched out the guard that threatened them and stole his keys, the two managed to escape and agreed to go to Tokyo. But their escape was deterred by the arrival of two men in black in a Hagenbeck Circus truck, who shot them with tranquilizers and grabbed Joe. Seven days later, Joe awoke in the Black Ghost organization's secret base, having been converted into 009 and being put through tests. He was disturbed to learn of the organization's plans, but was soon confronted by the eight previous 00 cyborgs of the project, who were ordered to assassinate him if he wouldn't complete his tests. Joe quicky rebelled, and the scientists, noting that the other 00 cyborgs were refusing to stop him, learned that the team had actually betrayed them. The other cyborgs assisted Joe in shooting the enemy test robot. Joe would then learn that Dr. Gilmore, the remaining scientist, had actually organized this rebellion. As X Island became surrounded by fleets of enemy planes and submarines, Joe made the choice to accompany the other cyborgs in fighting them off and finding some way of escape. Notes *A promotional advert drawn by Hoshino depicted 009 with fringe covering his left eye, however this detail appeared to have been done away with by the time the one-shot saw print. *The burgundy, military-style jumpsuit would also seem to have been a fixture of Peter Chung's cyborg designs, which were drafted in the same year for a scrapped animated film project and may have taken some inspiration from the one-shot. 009's uniform also featured gloves, though in a different color and style. The idea of 009 wearing gloves would later be considered by Marcus To for his design of 009 in the American graphic novel, though these would be phased out after the early concept art. Category:Male characters Category:Cyborgs